Suspicion and Ancient Vampires (exactly what I want to be spending my afternoon on)

It was Tellias, one of the Elders, a Vampire over 2,000 years old. He lives with Eleora, who looks like a lovely fresh young beauty but is even older (or so we suspect) than Tellias. They’re old and like many old people are often isolated and confused. Over the past few years I’ve insisted others help me watch out for them and help them.

Tellias was waiting on the front porch for me. A small black cat sat on the railing mewing at me. I gave Jinx a quick rub and we headed inside. The old Vampire, who looks like he is about 19 or 20 years old, was wearing a steel blue colored work shirt with the name Lloyd embroidered on it and a pair of jeans so old that Levi Straus himself might have made them. Tellias had pulled his white blond hair was back and tied with a yellow shoelace.

He hugged me and told me thank you a dozen times, then hugged me again and kissed me on the forehead. “Dear girl it is so good to see you. I need your help so badly. So very very badly.”

Val came in wearing a suit and carrying a bag over his shoulder.

“Where’d you come from?”

“Denver. Business.” He kissed my cheek and headed for the kitchen.

My brother does things with finance and money. It is all secretive and perfectly legal. Like our Grandmama Lola he doesn’t have one permanent home, but moves round between places. It is common among Vampires. We’re just sort of like that sometimes. About a year ago I convinced Val and Lola to stay with the Elders from time to time and help them out. Really it was to help me out.

Tellias touched Val on the arm. “Are you hungry dear boy?”

“No. I’m full. Hooked up with a couple of flight attendants in Denver before I left.” Val went to the refrigerator and grabbed a beer, then went upstairs to his rooms on the top floor.

Tellias too my hand and led me to a chair. “Sit down. I have to talk to you. I have things to say.”

“What is it?” I asked that expecting something reasonable. Silly me.

He furrowed his brow. “Eleora is seeing someone else. They’re all in love with her. Of course she encourages it. She encourages every single one of them.”

“When would she have time? You’re always with her.”

“Not always.”

“Who?”

“I have my suspicions. I have my list. He took a well-worn piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to me.”

“Most of these guys have been dead for at least fifty years.”

He shoved it back into his pocket and pulled out another paper. “This one Juliette. Look at this one.”

There were names on the list I hadn’t seen since I was a child. He grabbed it back and pulled another out of his pocket on lined yellow legal paper and shoved it in my hand. “This is it. This is the most current list.”

I scanned the list and recognized the names. Half were Vampires and half were Regular Humans.

“Well, Tellias, you can scratch Kyle Hanson off the list.”

“Why?”

“He’s a Werewolf. She’d never sleep with a Werewolf. This is ridiculous Tellias. Eleora is not cheating on you.”

Tellias grabbed the paper out of my hand and shoved it back in his pocket. After that he paced the room and started to straighten already straight pictures.

“You’re no help. I thought you would help me. Considering everything I have done for you over the past few centuries.”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Where is Eleora?”

“In the cottage with your Grandmother.” He never called her that unless he was angry with her.

Like I said before my great great great Grandmama Lola sometimes stays in the lovely little storybook cottage next to the grand Queen Ann farmhouse that Tellias and Eleora occupy.

I got to the cottage and discovered Val already there. He’d changed into jeans and a sweatshirt. A bottle of wine was on the table along with a couple of glasses. Eleora was nowhere to be found.

Lola stood there with a scowl on her pretty face. “The old fool has been going on for days about her cheating. I told him he could blow smoke out of his ass before he’s get any information from me.”

“Is she cheating?”

“Of course not.”

I left the cottage and found Eleora standing in the middle of the barn surrounded by owls. Yes, owls. You know, it is a barn, in the middle of an orchard.

I gave her a hug. She danced around me and touched my face as lightly as a butterfly kiss and fluffed up my hair. She wore a green sweater, a gray pleated wool skirt with a big gold pin in it and black rubber rain boots.

“Tell me about Tellias.”

“He used to be a Roman, then he was English, then he was American, then he turned into an old fool. He is still an old fool.”

She twirled her skirt then stopped. Her eyes flashed with anger. “You’ve seen how women look at him. They’re all over him like alley cats in heat. Do I say anything? Absolutely not. I have never said a word. Never. Never ever ever ever ever.”

Jinx ran into the room and started to sing the song of his people – a grand opera of loud meowing.

“Do you need food baby kitty?” Tellias picked up the cat and rubbed her neck.

Eleora came up and kissed the cat on the top of her head. They both cooed over the cat while I found the cat food.

While they babied Jinx I walked back over to the cottage. Lola greeted me at the door with a smile. “Have they made up?”

“I don’t know. They’ve been sidetracked by the cat.”

“Good,” Lola said, “maybe tomorrow they’ll lose their car keys or break a shoe lace or have another emergency. I’ll take them out to find a donor or two, you know like a lunch date. They haven’t been out for a good hunt in a while.”

We spent the rest of the afternoon just visiting together. The lists of supposed lovers had been forgotten along with a lot of other things.

I always answer the phone when Tellias calls because I never know if the emergencies are real or not. We have had real emergencies and there have been times when I thought I would lose one of them.

I guess I could say no, but when you love someone you don’t say no. When someone needs you, even if they don’t remember why you don’t say no. You just go and help and in the end you still love each other… sometimes even after 2,000 years.